actions may determine their decision. If you merely condemn without trying to help, they will go with those who claim to have a good time. If you are cheerful and take into consideration the men’s lack of knowledge, and if you have something to do to interest them, they will follow you. Their ideas of interesting things are not the same as yours. It is a real pleasure for you to go to church. But this will probably not interest them. Go bowling, or visit the service club, or go into town to see friends of yours or theirs. As you try to be friends with them and understand their backgrounds, you may win them to Christ. Above all, be a “ regular man.” All I have said thus far could apply equally well to a man in the service or one training for the service in some thing like R.O.T.C. In such an on- campus unit, you can still gravitate to your own clique. Don’t! Get acquainted with other men in your own unit, your equals as well as your superiors and inferiors. Here you will have the free dom and the time to make friends and an excellent chance to tell of salvation through Christ. As an officer-to-be you will have even greater opportunities to witness for Christ. When that freshman comes into your unit, instead of scaring the wits out of him with your gruffness, invite him out to the fellowship meeting or spend some extra time in finding out a little about him—what he is studying and what his plans are. You will be amazed at what a lasting impression it will make on him that someone was interested. This little matter of interest, in my estimation, makes the difference be tween a mediocre officer and a good one. A good officer is interested in his men as individuals, and as a Christian offi cer, he further sees them as people whom Jesus Christ loved and died for: thus he bends every effort to tell them of the Saviour who has meant so much to him. This does not mean he is “ soft” on his men, but rather that he tries to understand and love them in a way which, small though it is, reflects how Jesus Christ loves and understands him. Each of the services has an exacting discipline, and its definite requirements must be fulfilled by each man. The pur pose of uniformity in everything is that there may result the automatic func tioning whieh is necessary in combat and times of stress. God, too, sets forth a strict discipline for His soldiers, and we in His army must conform. In both cases men’s lives are involved: in the government service, physical life; and in Christian service, spiritual life. Upon entering the service of your country you have no choice but to conform to gov ernment issues and soon find yourself a typical “ G.I.” in everything. Are you willing as a Christian to be strictly “ God’s issue” that men may have spirit ual as well as physical life? * Available in booklet form from lUbU N. Astor, Chicago, III., at 10 cents. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
with God. I believe that bowing your head for grace before meals is expected of you as a Christian, but I am not sure that long periods spent on your knees in prayer beside your bunk is. I have known too many instances when this was considered only a parade of one’s Christianity. My personal solution was to lie on my bed and with head down talk to the Lord. Then I visited the prayer room which almost all chap els have when I wished to kneel and pray for longer periods. Men tend to be repelled if you seem to be putting on an act. They will soon make it very uncomfortable for you and perhaps completely neutralize your witness if they feel you are a sham. Your personal attitude toward the service will be one of your greatest testimonies to your Christian life. I must confess that I am greatly alarmed at the many people who wish only for a “ good deal.” I have not found over five persons in the last year who seemed to look forward to making a contribu tion in combat or wherever the service might send them to face hazards. The great tragedy has been that many Christians are falling all over each other trying to get a “ privileged posi tion.” To me it is a denial of all that Romans 8:28 teaches us. If you come into the service, believe with all your heart that God has a real place for you and don’t look for the softest little job you can find. America was never built on that philosophy, and it will not stay strong on it either. If we believe that God has a plan for our lives, we need not fear, for He will “ do abundantly above all that we ask or think.” The service is not a place to “mark time,” but right now it is God’s greatest mis sion field for you. Your fellowship in the service will be another problem. There won’t be a nice little Inter-Varsity clique whose mem bers always, say the right thing and never do anything wrong. Rather there will be some pretty tough characters who will do things you didn’t even know existed. They will come home to the barracks at night, or should I say morn ing, after long hours of worshiping at Bacchus’ altar and insist on telling you all about the night’s fun when you are interested in nothing but sleep. Such a situation will put your Christian love to the severest test, and you will come out of it either a misfit or a “regular joe.” It has been interesting to note that the worst sinners often make the finest and most energetic Christians. Be a true friend, not just one who looks down his nose every time the boys have too many. That’s the only life they know, and unless you lead them to something better by what you say and do, you have no right to complain. It is only by the grace of God that you are what you are. ■. i l i i The Positive Witness There will be a number of men who will be on the deciding line, and your
“As a Good Soldier of Jesus Christ”
One other of my excuses should be mentioned — another conscience - salve which allowed me to remain silent about my Lord—namely, that I might turn out to be a poor soldier and thus bring dis repute on His name. Although I believe that I was somewhat honest in this, it was also just plain laziness on my part and a real stratagem of the devil. I found as time went on that, when I aligned myself on the Christian side, I was “on the spot.” Men looked at me, and I was never allowed to forget that they judged what a Christian was by what I was and how I acted. How many times in Italy when I beeame so tired of fighting and war, constantly crawl ing up one side of the mountain and fighting down the other, I would see a house alone on the mountainside and wish that I could go there and just lie down and rest. Then I’d remember, “ A Christian would never do that.” There was no way out. I had to go on. Also when the shelling got hot or the bullets were flying thick and fast, my reaction was to freeze down behind a wall or ditch, but the thought that “ a Christian would never do that” gave me the impetus to move and to lead others to move when they, too, were afraid. Thus I believe that I can advise from actual experience in the service—put yourself on record as a Christian, and it will make you a better service man. It means that you can’t cut into the chow line. It means that you aren’t al ways looking out for yourself first. It means keeping that rifle spotlessly clean or doing that task of yours just a little better than anyone else. God enjoins this, too, in Colossians 3:23,24: “ And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Making the Most of Your Spiritual Life In the service your problems in re gard to your spiritual life will be just like those of your life at university. Only more so. It will be hard to find a period for the Quiet Time. Reveille comes so early, and you are too tired at night. You most likely will find that thirty or more men in the same room with you are not conducive to quiet. I found the noon hour one of the best times to get alone with God in garrison. If you want a quiet place early in the morning, the company day room is one of the best. If it is fair weather usually just a short walk will take you to a chapel or to a woods where you can be alone with God for the time which will set the tenor for your whole day. There has been much discussion over what po sition you should assume in praying while in a barracks. I believe that the best principle is to be as unobtrusive as possible in carrying out your communion Page E'ght
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